Thomas taylbr smith



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. T. SMITH.

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP.

No. 311,617. Patented Feb. 3, 1885.

Wizea'sew 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. T. T. SMITH.

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP,

(No Model.)

N1 PEYERS. Phnlo-Lxlhagmpher Washmgiun, 11c,

llnirrnn Starts Parasol" @rrrca THOMAS TAYLER SMlTH, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,617, dated February 3, 1885 Application filld October 16,1884. (No model.) Patented in England August 31, 1882, No. M132, and in France April 30, 1883, Kn. 155,175.

and useful Improvements in Portable Electric Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in and it consists in the adaptation thereto of a flexible conductor or cord containing both the flow and return wires, suitably insulated, in combination uith a hand winch or reel for winding up or paying out the cord, as may be required.

111 the accompanying drawings, the invcntion is illustrated, by way of example, as applied to two forms of portable lamp.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a portable lamp of a form suitable for library or workshop use. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly .in section, of a portable lamp suitable for use in the dining or drawing room; and Fig. dis a perspective view of the same.

111 all those figures similar parts are marked by similar letters of reference. 7

A is the incandescent lamp proper and socket, of any well-known and suitable constructionsuch as the Edison, Maxim, or Swan-mounted on a hollow stem, B, on the lower end of which a hand winch or reel, 0, is fixed, a passage being drilled through the body of the winch, so as to communicate with the interior of the stem or spindle B.

D is a flexible conductor or cord containing both the flow and return wires, suitably insu lated, and this cord, entering a slot or tube constituting a guide, passes in unbroken connection from the outside of the body or base of the lamp around the winch or reel and up the hollow stem or spindle to the lamp-socket, where the flow and return wires are properly connected in a manner which will be well understood to such portions of the said socket as will enable the current to pass around the carbon filament when the lamp is properly fitted in the socket.

In the library or workshop lamp illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the flexible cord might pass through a loop or tube constituting a guide on the frame or base of the lamp, but in this form of lamp it is preferably passed through the handle or hollow tube E by which the lamp is moved from place to place and carried about. The base E of the lamp has feet or legs 0 0, (preferably three in numben) which keep the projecting winch-handle clear of the ground, and one of these feet terminates in a the construction of portable electric lamps; I

loop or eye, 6, as shown, or in a hook, or both in a hook and eye,which affords a convenient means for hanging the lamp against a wall or on aprojection. A leg bent inwardlyat right angles and with an eye in the bent portion is the simplest means for combining the ad vantages of a hook and an eye in one piece of metal.

To prevent the reel or winch C overrnnning. a pair of small irictiousprings, ff, are fitted between the winch and its bearings.

Referringnow to thetable or standard lamp, Figs. 3 and 4, E is the base of the lamp,within which is mounted the winch O,f'ast on one end of a hollow stem or spindle, B, to the upper end of which the lamp proper and lamp-socket A are fixed, so that (as in the previous case) the winch and incandescent lamp rotate together. The flexible cord D passes,as before, in unbroken connection from the lamp-socket through the hollow stem and reel 0 and out through a guide-slot in the base E of the lamp, the handle or hollow tube E, by which the lamp is carried, being in this form of lamp parallel to the hollow stem B, instead of, as in the previous case, at right angles to it.

A lamp of this description is not usually required to be hung upon a wall, but by fitting it with feet 0 e, in the form of a loop or eye, after the manner described with reference to the library or work-shop lamp, this lamp could also be steadily supported from a nail or hook against a wall.

In this standard lamp, in order to secure steadiness when in use, it is preferred to load the reel or base or make one or both of them of solid metal. It would be possible to arrange the stem or spindle B so that it should remain fixed while the winch or reel 0 was rotated; but such an arrangement would cause the flexible conductor D to become twisted, or would necessitate rather elaborate rubbing contact arrangements, which would increase the cost of manufacture and add nothing to the utility and efficiency of the portable lamp.

I do not limit myself to the precise form of the bases or frames Which carry the rotating hand-reel and its hollow stem, nor to the form of the handle or tube by which the lamp is grasped and moved about, as these parts are capable of considerable modification; but

I claimas my invention- 1. A portable electric lamp in which a flexible conductor, D, containing both the flow and return wires, suitably insulated, passes in unbroken connection from the outside of the lamp through a guide-tube or aperture to the center of a hand winch or reel and through the hollow stem or spindle of the said winch to the lamp-socket on the end thereof, whereby simple and efficient means are provided for winding up or paying out the conductor, as required, while the lamp is in use, and which lamp is further provided with feet so formed that it may be stood on a horizontal surface or be hung against a wall or on a rail, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a portable electric lamp,the combination, with the base or frame E, having suitably-formed feet 6 e and a hollow tube or handle, E, extending from it, of a hand winch or reel, 0, mounted within the said base or frame upon one end of a hollow stem or spindle, B, so as to rotate therewith, a lamp-socket and lamp, A, being fast on the other end of the said hollow stem or spindle, and a flexible conductor, D, containing both the flow and return wires,'suitably insulated, serving to convey the current to the said lamp-socket and lamp from any suitable source or point in unbroken connection, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the lamp base or support E,fitted with a handle, E, for raising and carrying it about, and having an opening in it for the passage of a flexible conductor, D, of a stem or spindle, B, lamp and lampsocket A, and reel 0, the said reel having a hole in it for the purpose of enabling the wires in the flexible conductor to be threaded through, and to be electrically connected with the lamp and lamp-socket- A by way of the stem or spindle B, as and for the purpose set forth.

4:. In a portable electric lamp,the combina: tion, with a lamp frame or support, E, fitted with a handle, E, and stem supporting a lamp and lamp-socket, of a hand winch or reel, 0, and a flexible conductor, D,the said conductor passing through an opening or guide in the lamp base or support and through a hole in the barrel of the reel to the stem on which the lamp is mounted, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

THOMAS TAYLER SMITH. Witnesses: I HERBERT E. DALE, J. WATT,

Clerks to Messrs. Scorer d: Harris, 17 Gracechurch Street, London, E. 0. 

